Iowa “establishment” in a Ron Paul “panic”?

posted at 10:45 am on December 20, 2011 by Ed Morrissey

The dawning realization of what a Ron Paul win in the Iowa caucuses would mean for Republicans, Iowa, and the caucuses has apparently begun to dawn on Iowa Republicans. Politico calls this a “Ron Paul panic,” but it’s actually a bit of an existential crisis:

Conservatives and Republican elites in the state are divided over who to support for the GOP nomination, but they almost uniformly express concern over the prospect that Ron Paul and his army of activist supporters may capture the state’s 2012 nominating contest — an outcome many fear would do irreparable harm to the future role of the first-in-the-nation caucuses. …

Paul poses an existential threat to the state’s cherished kick-off status, say these Republicans, because he has little chance to win the GOP nomination and would offer the best evidence yet that the caucuses reward candidates who are unrepresentative of the broader party.

“It would make the caucuses mostly irrelevant if not entirely irrelevant,” said Becky Beach, a longtime Iowa Republican who helped Presidents Bush 41 and Bush 43 here. “It would have a very damaging effect because I don’t think he could be elected president and both Iowa and national Republicans wouldn’t think he represents the will of voters.”

What especially worries Iowa Republican regulars is the possibility that Paul could win here on January 3rd with the help of Democrats and independents who change their registration to support the libertarian-leaning Texas congressman but then don’t support the GOP nominee next November.

That’s been precisely the general concern that Republicans have with the primary process, and not just in Iowa. A number of states allow for open primaries, and since Democrats won’t have a contested primary in this cycle, that could mean a heavy dose of Democrats and independents showing up for both caucuses and primaries. In most cycles where the GOP has a clear frontrunner, or a clear two-person race, that wouldn’t make much difference. In this cycle, though, an influx of non-Republicans could make some mischief in key states, including — but not limited to — Iowa.

A Paul win presents a particular issue for Iowa. They fought this year to keep their prized position in the primaries, and the RNC went to bat for them to keep it. If the caucuses end up producing Ron Paul — the publisher of a newsletter that for years featured racist statements and lunatic conspiracy theories — as their preferred candidate, it will spell the end of the line for Iowa as the first testing ground of Republican presidential hopefuls. It will also likely rally the GOP around Mitt Romney as the nominee, being the safest choice and the easiest to rally around in defense of a Paul nomination, especially with Gingrich unable to close the deal in Iowa after bouncing so high up in the polls.

The New York Times takes a closer look at the Paul newsletters today, too, albeit a rather mild look:

A 1992 passage from the Ron Paul Political Report about the Los Angeles riots read, “Order was only restored in L.A. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks.” A passage in another newsletter asserted that people with AIDS should not be allowed to eat in restaurants because “AIDS can be transmitted by saliva”; in 1990 one of his publications criticized Ronald Reagan for having gone along with the creation of the federal holiday honoring the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which it called “Hate Whitey Day.”

The magazine article largely matched a similar report in The New Republic in 2008, and it was written by the same author, James Kirchick. The passages were plucked from a variety of newsletters that Mr. Paul’s consulting business published during his years out of Congress, all of them featuring his name: Ron Paul Political Report, Ron Paul’s Freedom Report, Ron Paul Survival Report and Ron Paul Investment Letter.

Mr. Paul did not respond to an interview request, but repudiated the writings in 2008. Likening himself to a major news publisher, he said he did not vet every article that was featured in his newsletters. “I absolutely, honestly do not know who wrote those things,” Mr. Paul said in an interview on CNN at the time, adding that he did not monitor the publications closely because he was busy with a medical practice and “speeches around the country.”

“He did not monitor the publications closely”? His publishing business employed his family and generated $940,000 in revenues in 1993 alone, as James Kirchick pointed out yet again this week:

Yet a subsequent report by Reason found that Ron Paul & Associates, the defunct company that published the newsletters and which counted Paul and his wife as officers, reported an income of nearly $1 million in 1993 alone. If this figure is reliable, Paul must have earned multiple millions of dollars over the two decades plus of the newsletters’ existence. It is incredible that he had less than an active interest in what was being printed as part of a subscription newsletter enterprise that earned him and his family millions of dollars. Ed Crane, the president of the Cato Institute, said Paul told him that “his best source of congressional campaign donations was the mailing list for the Spotlight, the conspiracy-mongering, anti-Semitic tabloid run by the Holocaust denier Willis Carto.”

How likely would it be that a publisher made a million dollars in revenues from his enterprise, managed to employ his family at the business, and yet never bothered to look at its product? Zero, even if one buys the argument that Paul allowed other people to ghost-write the newsletter under his own name and in the first person without ever reviewing their output to make sure that it didn’t contradict his own political stands. And even if people are prepared to swallow all of that, the fact remains that Paul made millions as a publisher peddling vile, racist tracts and insane conspiracy theories, which any Democratic opponent would produce in toto during a general election, even disregarding Team Obama’s predilection for oppo research.

It’s not just the top job that’s at risk, either. With a man like Paul and his newsletter baggage on a national ticket, how would that help Republicans win Senate and House races around the country? It’s no wonder that some in the Iowa GOP have begun to “panic,” and it’s probably not limited to Iowa, either.

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I have yet to meet or even read a post of a neoconservative veteran. People aren’t so eager to go to war once they’ve experienced it themselves. It should be a requirement for all neocons banging the drums of war to be drafted for one tour in Afghanistan.

Jerry Bear on December 20, 2011 at 5:23 PM

Define what you mean by ‘neoconservative’, please. Ron Paul supporters use it as a sweeping, broadly brushed pejorative that bears little resemblance to the term as I understand it.

I stated, “I initially asked you about *solving the problem of murder* which implies there will be *no* murders, not just a decrease. “

You responded:
“No, you asked about the problem of murder and it’s prevention, which I addressed.”

So once I provided the quote that proves your statement above is incorrect, I never asked about the prevention as you stated you now change to following argument:

Your quote failed to show where, exactly, solving the problem of murder is meant ending all murders that will ever occur. You could just as easily accuse one of misreading for drawing that conclusion. the problem lies with your imprecise language that you insist other give a precise interpretation to. To all of which i ask:
1. Are you really this stupid?
and
2. Seriously, are you really this stupid?
abobo on December 20, 2011 at 5:10 PM

So riddle me this. If asked you how to solve the problem of murder and you decrease murder from 10,000 to 8,000 would you say, “I’ve solved it!”. Or better yet, let speak in Paul Bot language. If I ask you to solve the problem of the fed printing money to devalue the dollar and I I found away to restrict them to printing 10% less money would you say I’ve solved it?

I have yet to meet or even read a post of a neoconservative veteran. People aren’t so eager to go to war once they’ve experienced it themselves. It should be a requirement for all neocons banging the drums of war to be drafted for one tour in Afghanistan.

Jerry Bear

Then read posts by Logboy and Hawkdriver you jackass. Both are veterans.

Ron tard, er Paul praises Bradley Manning as a “hero” and “patriot”. Let’s forget Manning tried to help frame innocent soldiers for murder, he’s a hero.
More proof RP is an America hater and does not support our soldiers.

Define what you mean by ‘neoconservative’, please. Ron Paul supporters use it as a sweeping, broadly brushed pejorative that bears little resemblance to the term as I understand it.

troyriser_gopftw on December 20, 2011 at 5:30 PM

Neoconservatives don’t have a specifically defined platform but there are a few foundational principles. The number one principle is that America should be the dominant force around the world dictating to countries what to do and the attempt to ‘spread democracy’. They are Wilsonian. They also love to promote corporatism. They think it is good for government to cozy up with big business and pass laws that benefit them and hurt competition. A Rockefeller Republican is a good description.

They turn a blind eye to illegal immigration because it is ‘good for business’. Globalization is a great thing in their eyes because it is good for profits and cheap products. Exporting factories to benefit from cheap labor and lack of environmental laws while having tariff-less access to the United States market is another virtue. They hold no allegiance to the American people or the country that these companies were created in. The exportation of the America’s manufacturing has made us dangerously dependent upon communist dictatorships like China. How is this a good thing?

Besides their corporatist and globalist ideological leanings, on other issues they leave a lot of wiggle room. This is why you see so many flip flopping neocon politicians. When John McCain was challenged by a conservative in AZ, he suddenly transformed into a hard right candidate and was hard line on illegal immigration even though he’s lobbied for massive reckless amnesties twice. The people of AZ fell for it again. This type of viewpoint is unfortunately held by many Republicans and the majority of the hacks in the right wing media (Fox News comes to mind). They do not care about the sanctity of the Constitution because it doesn’t fit into their anti-sovereign world view.

Jerry Bear, are you a resident of AZ?
I am. No one fell for anything when it came to McCain.
Voters felt that McCain would be on his last term and that we could do better than J.D. Hayworth when McCain retired. It’s bullsh*t logic, but there you have it. I voted against the NcInsane myself.

I also love how you Ronulans pretend to give a d*mn about our soldiers.

Ron tard, er Paul praises Bradley Manning as a “hero” and “patriot”. Let’s forget Manning tried to help frame innocent soldiers for murder, he’s a hero.
More proof RP is an America hater and does not support our soldiers.

Who the hell would adopt the pet name of a stoned, second-rate hippie flat-picker for their moniker at a right-wing website? I don’t suppose you also have a favorite t-shirt that says “I’m with Stupid.” and has an upwards poiting arrow, do you?

There are plenty of things to go after with Paul. I don’t like his foreign policy fantasies. Alas, he is the only one with any idea as to what must be done to FedGov to turn this country around.

Another concern is how the independent voter will react to a full blown smear campaign like Buchanan had to endure back in teh 90s when the Republican establishment panicked and went after Pat hammer and tongs. If they do it again, get ready for another 4 years of the Obummer.

Hard Right on December 20, 2011 at 5:46 PM
Hard Right on December 20, 2011 at 6:15 PM

Hm. Listening to what he said, I heard criticism of the CIA for destroying evidence of its wrong doing, and frustration with this administration for refusing to do anything about that. “Maybe” for revealing what corruption is going on in government, a true political hero should be offered immunity when a whistle blower.

Who the hell would adopt the pet name of a stoned, second-rate hippie flat-picker for their moniker at a right-wing website? I don’t suppose you also have a favorite t-shirt that says “I’m with Stupid.” and has an upwards poiting arrow, do you?

M240H on December 20, 2011 at 6:40 PM

I like the Grateful Dead and this isn’t a right wing website. All I get from resident HA trolls is name calling and insults attacking my intelligence. Refute the substance of my arguments. Attacking me proves nothing and makes you look petty.

maverick muse, a hero doesn’t try to frame innocent soldiers for murder. That is exactly what he tried to help do with the “Collateral Murder” vids. Yes I know he didn’t create the the CM video, but he gave them the videos and the story.
That is not a whistleblower.

I have yet to meet or even read a post of a neoconservative veteran. People aren’t so eager to go to war once they’ve experienced it themselves. It should be a requirement for all neocons banging the drums of war to be drafted for one tour in Afghanistan.

Jerry Bear on December 20, 2011 at 5:23 PM

Another one of these nuts?? Are they reproducing overnight or something?? I swear its like playing Whack-A-Mole. You hit one on the head and another pops up. Oh well, more fun for us.

Hey genius, the forums are filled War Veteran “Neocons” (we know that means Joooooooooo lover). You dont have a clue what you’re talking about. Stick to topics you actually know something about, civilian.

Another one of these nuts?? Are they reproducing overnight or something?? I swear its like playing Whack-A-Mole. You hit one on the head and another pops up. Oh well, more fun for us.

Hey genius, the forums are filled War Veteran “Neocons” (we know that means Joooooooooo lover). You dont have a clue what you’re talking about. Stick to topics you actually know something about, civilian.

Logboy on December 20, 2011 at 8:31 PM

Someone informed me that you and another HA resident are veterans and I appreciate your service. I don’t appreciate your callous arrogant assumptions accusing antisemitism of people you do not know nor care to understand. We disagree on foreign policy. We are not enemies. I simply can not support an interventionist military philosophy that ignores our own borders while spending trillions on occupying and rebuilding backwards Arabic countries that want nothing to do with our form of government and blame us for all their woes. Nor do I hate Israel or the Jews like you insinuate. Israel has the right to exist and the right to defend itself and the United States has no place in telling Israel how to handle their affairs. If Israel is in danger and asks for our help, I (and I’m sure Paul) would be open to helping them.

I have yet to meet or even read a post of a neoconservative veteran. People aren’t so eager to go to war once they’ve experienced it themselves. It should be a requirement for all neocons banging the drums of war to be drafted for one tour in Afghanistan.

Jerry Bear on December 20, 2011 at 5:23 PM

Strategic Air Command, 15th Air Force, 4th Air Division, 90th Strategic Missile Wing, 90th Security Police Group, 90th Security Police Squadron, Charlie Flight, 3rd Squad. I was cross trained as an M-60 specialist, an M-203 Grenadier, usually on outside patrol. Enlisted under Carter in 1980, served under Mr. Reagan.. discharged in 1982 with an Honorable Medical Discharge after loosing most of my hearing from a near miss of an explosive training aid.

I am a proud vet, and have been tagged a Neo-con (dirty joooo lover to a Paulian) more often than my 52 years would suggest. I was also medically disabled after having my back broken on the job.

You, … fine, I won’t call you what you deserve, since you’ll just whine about it. I can’t stand whiners, not when my day starts with more pain than most could imagine. I have a full and complete understanding of what it’s like to pack a weapon over rough ground, and with my medical history, I know what physical trama is like, no illusions on that.

You b*tch about being called names, and spew out a hateful screed like that?

Really?

Did you ever enlist? I get the distinct impression the average Paulian wouldn’t help someone else, if it envolved the slightest risk… self sacrifice isn’t an isolationist trait, running away is. and if you find that insulting..

I appreciate your service. Perhaps my comment you responded to was a bit reactionary but I tend to lose my cool when people are insubstantially making accusation against a good man.

When you resort to accusing people of racism, bigotry, etc., you’re falling into the narrative that the left has used for decades in their quest to destroy conservatism. Try to be civil because in the end, we’re on the same side. I’m certainly not innocent of being uncivil myself.

We certainly don’t want to continue the left’s tyrannical reign by giving them the election due to our internal quarreling. I just see a lot of very hateful baseless articles and comments attacking Ron Paul which no other candidate receives from the right. (Gingrich got hammered recently but that’s due to the endless video clips and writings of the guy’s flip flopping and love of progressivism.) You may disagree with Paul and his supporters but they have a right to be heard. Many people are fed up with the corrupt system that gives us a fake conservative every election cycle and Ron Paul offers genuine reform and that’s why the establishment hates him so much.

No matter how long out, many of us use numbers or tags recognizeable to other vets. We can usually tell each other on sight, vets still walk with the bearing they learned after many an hour of practice.

Never met, or talked to Hawkdriver, or Logboy,. but I bet they’re easy to pick out of a group, something about pride, honor, make a fellow stand out. I have trouble standing as straight as I should, but I try. I’ll never understand why, folks who never served, seem to think they know what all military are thinking, and they have the gall to attempt to speak for us, when we’re more than able to speak for ourselves thank you.

Jerry Bear, no one suggests Paul doesn’t have a right to run, or people to share his opinions. That’s not the issue. We’re saying he’s wrong, and has too much bagage to have any hope of winning, and for that we get insulted, told how we’re part of some neo-con globalism illumanti plot to …

You get a bit cranky to find out that the least likely to win candidate has a fan base so rabid, they will go nuclear if you point out the obvious to them.

Someone informed me that you and another HA resident are veterans and I appreciate your service. I don’t appreciate your callous arrogant assumptions accusing antisemitism of people you do not know nor care to understand. We disagree on foreign policy. We are not enemies. I simply can not support an interventionist military philosophy that ignores our own borders while spending trillions on occupying and rebuilding backwards Arabic countries that want nothing to do with our form of government and blame us for all their woes. Nor do I hate Israel or the Jews like you insinuate. Israel has the right to exist and the right to defend itself and the United States has no place in telling Israel how to handle their affairs. If Israel is in danger and asks for our help, I (and I’m sure Paul) would be open to helping them.

Jerry Bear on December 20, 2011 at 8:59 PM

You must be new here. Let me get you up to speed.

Over the last few days of Paul threads here the bots have made it abundantly clear that Neocon = Jooooooo lover. You can try and deny your anti-Israel ideology but no one here is buying it. Just like no one here will believe that Uncle Ron didn’t know about or write his racist newsletters, or that he’s not an Alex Jones Prison Planet Truther, or that hes an not an antisemitic, radical Islam apologist. Denial in the face of overwhelming, indisputable evidence simply proves one to be a fanatical nut, something the bots have done regularly over the last few days.

But your biggest mistake by far was speaking like you know what Veterans have seen or experienced, especially those of us who have seen combat. Don’t you EVER do that. You speak of what you do not know. Because of our experience we know the Ron Paul “make a stand at the borders” defense policy is an absolute joke. The Paul bots live in this idealistic little world where they think our enemies will suddenly like us if we take our guns and go home. Its an infantile view, at best and it deserves every bit of scorn we give it.

I was cross trained as an M-60 specialist, an M-203 Grenadier, usually on outside patrol.

mark81150 on December 20, 2011 at 9:11 PM

Spent most of my time in the 82nd intimately involved with the M60 machinegun, working my way up from ammo bearer to AG to gunner and then, finally, to weapons squad leader. That awkward hunk of steel weighed 26 lbs and partially deafened me for life. I embarrassed my kids at the museum inside the Soldiers and Sailors monument in Indianapolis, where an M60 is displayed. I was thrilled to see it again.

You kids nowadays have it so easy. Back then you humped uphill both ways.

Spent most of my time in the 82nd intimately involved with the M60 machinegun, working my way up from ammo bearer to AG to gunner and then, finally, to weapons squad leader. That awkward hunk of steel weighed 26 lbs and partially deafened me for life. I embarrassed my kids at the museum inside the Soldiers and Sailors monument in Indianapolis, where an M60 is displayed. I was thrilled to see it again.

You kids nowadays have it so easy. Back then you humped uphill both ways.

troyriser_gopftw on December 20, 2011 at 10:20 PM

I was 11B. I carried the 240B (Pig replacement) whenever I could get my hands on it (until I made team leader anyway). I carried it out and back on the 12 miler in boot. Its still a toy compared to the M2 .50 I had on my truck in Iraq though. You get noticed when your gunner lights that up.

Shitty said:
“I’m not a fan of the elites, but what has Paul accomplished in his many years in congress? So far as I can tell, almost nothing.”

Accomplish…what is he supposed to accomplish? He, like the other politicians, are sworn to uphold and abide by the US Constitution. They are supposed to defend individual liberty through our Constitutional Republic so individuals can pursue happiness.

These elite, regardless of party, have done nothing but bankrupt our nation. With Romney, you will get nothing but the same. He won’t he tell you what he would cut from the budget. He can’t even admit that Obama is a socialist. Just like Bush and Obama, Romeny will do nothing but increase the debt as he bails out his buddies just like Bush (TARP) and Obama (Stimulus).

The head of the Austin chapter of the NAACP has come out to declare Ron Paul not to be a racist.

The true antidote to racism is liberty. Liberty means having a limited, constitutional government devoted to the protection of individual rights rather than group claims. Liberty means free-market capitalism, which rewards individual achievement and competence, not skin color, gender, or ethnicity.More importantly, in a free society every citizen gains a sense of himself as an individual, rather than developing a group or victim mentality. This leads to a sense of individual responsibility and personal pride, making skin color irrelevant. Rather than looking to government to correct our sins, we should understand that racism will endure until we stop thinking in terms of groups and begin thinking in terms of individual liberty.
–Rep. Ron Paul

Also note that democrats are switching their registrations to vote for Paul in the closed Primary. The extent this is happening, however is unknown. But it is a factor I don’t see anyone mentioning.

republicanmother on December 20, 2011 at 11:39 AM

Paul wants to treat 13 year old black children as adults when they commit crimes, while treating 13 year old white children as, well, children.

Resist We Much, great post. Too bad the Ronulan cultists will ignore it.
A few things that have become more clear about the Ronulans:
They hate ANY authority let alone government authority and they think Paul will make it all go away.
They hate America.
They hate the military for the most part. There are exceptions of course.
They are even more narcissistic than liberals-which is saying something. Liberals want government to be the “people’s God” with them in charge. Ronulans want to be God on earth. Their version of godhood is hardly benign tho.
They only care about themselves.
Many are suffering from paranoid delusions.
They are disconnected from reality and unable to handle or process it.

I forgot to add.
They hate and sneer with contempt at anyone who doesn’t buy into their fantasy.
They know they arn’t true Conservatives or Republicans, but have no chance of winning anything unless they piggy-back like a parasite on the GOP.

81152, Law Enforcement Specialist originally, then 3PO51 when they changed the AFSC codes. Retrained into Combat Arms (3PO51B) and retired as a team superintendent in charge of weapons training at Lackland AFB in 2009.

Jerry Bear, no one suggests Paul doesn’t have a right to run, or people to share his opinions. That’s not the issue. We’re saying he’s wrong, and has too much bagage to have any hope of winning, and for that we get insulted, told how we’re part of some neo-con globalism illumanti plot to …

You get a bit cranky to find out that the least likely to win candidate has a fan base so rabid, they will go nuclear if you point out the obvious to them.

Why is Paul the only candidate too holy to be criticised?

mark81150 on December 20, 2011 at 10:02 PM

They told Goldwater the same thing. They told him to go home and quit starting trouble with his ZANY ides. He had the last laugh though in the end. Without Goldwater, there never could have been Reagan.

Did you ever enlist? I get the distinct impression the average Paulian wouldn’t help someone else, if it envolved the slightest risk… self sacrifice isn’t an isolationist trait, running away is. and if you find that insulting..

oh well… don’t deal in razortape if you can’t bear getting a cut.

mark81150 on December 20, 2011 at 9:11 PM

Are you aware that a significant percentage of folks who follow Ron Paul are in the Oathkeepers as well as the militia movement? When you make comments like this you it doesn’t reflect well on your person. Sure, there are RP supporters who are keyboard warriors who would run at the first sign of danger but there are many who are fighting men of the highest caliber.

Okay. Let’s do it the other way. Say, the candidate you support – Gingrich, Romney, or Perry – will he (or perhaps she) be willing to appoint Ron Paul to run Treasury upon winning in the general? His unquestionable loyalty to the Constitution would be critical there, and his allegedly insane foreign policy views and allegedly antisemitic opinion would matter exactly squat. If he (or she) is, I’ll gladly support your candidate. If not, it’s perhaps you who need a reality check.

Archivarix on December 20, 2011 at 2:12 PM

What good would that do? Isn’t he currently the head of the Congressional committee that oversees the Fed? What has he done in that position?

Also…he obviously does not revere the part of the Constitution regarding “equal protection under the law” in the case of 13 year old black children.

Baby boomers, the generation that started the slide, will never vote for Paul en masse. They are still attached to the idyllic America where entitlements are aplenty and the U.S. is perched like a majestic eagle with it’s claws outstretched ready to take on every evil in the world, large or small. But unfortunately, no one told the Boomers about the law of finite resources as well as the dangers of an ever increasing money supply. So I say left them die off in their cocoon of bliss before the nation implodes. It’s the least we can do as concerned citizens. With that said, the millennials look like the Baby Boomers to the power of 20. We truly are in deep trouble.

I don’t appreciate your callous arrogant assumptions accusing antisemitism of people you do not know nor care to understand. We disagree on foreign policy. We are not enemies. I simply can not support an interventionist military philosophy that ignores our own borders while spending trillions on occupying and rebuilding backwards Arabic countries that want nothing to do with our form of government and blame us for all their woes. Nor do I hate Israel or the Jews like you insinuate. Israel has the right to exist and the right to defend itself and the United States has no place in telling Israel how to handle their affairs. If Israel is in danger and asks for our help, I (and I’m sure Paul) would be open to helping them.

Jerry Bear on December 20, 2011 at 8:59 PM

They’re behaving as children sticking their fingers in their ears. They simply cannot respond to facts and instead respond to what they wish were there (hence all of this ridiculous use of and spelling “Joooooo”). They are irrational and behave irrationally, telling you up front that no matter what you say, they won’t believe it. It’s a defense mechanism to protect their worldview from being challenged.

They are irrational and behave irrationally, telling you up front that no matter what you say, they won’t believe it. It’s a defense mechanism to protect their worldview from being challenged.

Dante on December 21, 2011 at 9:14 AM

Not true. Ron Paul uses Don Black’s Stormfront as a fundraising source. Stormfront, the preeminent white supremacy site, is fairly rabid with antisemitism. Ron Paul is also quite popular with the National Alliance, the most virulent source of antisemitism on the Internet.

Lew Rockwell, a close friend and associate of Ron Paul and purported ghostwriter for many of Ron Paul’s newsletters, is personally and professionally connected to Willis Carto, notorious Holocaust denier. Alex Jones, yet another friend and associate of Ron Paul’s, claims ‘international bankers’ are responsible for all wars everywhere, and specifically identifies the Rothschild family as the masterminds behind it all.

If a man takes money from organized groups of neo-nazis, counts notorious anti-semites and Holocaust deniers as friends, and publicly acccuses the state of Israel of running concentration camps, among other things, then any rational person would draw the conclusion that Dr. Ron Paul is a raving lunatic and spittle-flecked bigot.

On some things I’m not what one paper towel advertisement has called it’s fine product, a quicker picker upper.

I would appreciate being brought up to speed in a courteous civil manner on some terms that are new to me by those commenters who seem to have wrangled with one another near the time of my post that is about 1 o’clock December 20 2011 on page 3 of the comments in my display:

VENTS

MASK-WEARERS

MRPROPELLERHEAD
[I have hazarded a guess this refers to Ron Paul as I saw a photo of him wearing a Tom Terrific upside down funnel style tin hat but I would hate to be mistaken if it refers to Spanky from the fine TV show Little Rascals or some other more comical pol]

Ron Paul is literally the only guy in this race that has a shot to win that would -

Reduce the size of the fed.

Take on the corrupt banks.

Move the country in a truly conservative direction.

Throw a monkey wrench into the corrupt system of bought and paid for politicians in DC.

So of course the Republican establishment is crapping itself at the thought of him winning. He’s actually a conservative and they can’t be having any of that tomfoolery at the head of their party.

Benaiah on December 21, 2011 at 11:29 AM

I don’t think he can directly reduce the size of the fed as president. He has to choose a Fed chairman from a select pool of FR governors. Secondly, only Congress can revoke the charter of the Fed and if you know how corrupt Congress is that’s not happening. However, what Paul could do as President is force a release of thousands of damaging documents on the Fed & essentially kill them with a thousand paper cuts.

Building from a paleoconservative base, Paul sets himself against the neoconservative establishment that has controlled the Republican Party for decades. These “neocons” relentlessly advocate an ever-expanding military presence under the guise of exporting “freedom and democracy.”

Neocons — reformed liberals, actually — are also architects for bigger government. They link arms with the likes of Ted Kennedy to federalize education, cozy up to corporations and shill for “comprehensive immigration reform” (i.e., open borders). Among the current crop of GOP candidates, Newt Gingrich is a neocon poster boy.

None of the neocons’ global agenda and few of their domestic initiatives have anything to do with classic conservatism — or classic liberalism, for that matter. Yet neocon Republicans have grafted themselves onto the tea party with remarkable success.

Another war? this time it’s explicitly for a foreign nation’s security

oh that foreign nation is Israel? write me off as a bigot.

did I stumble onto a leftist website?

let me tell you a short story. This week I am on a business trip in Turkey. I understand fully, now, why calling Israel “a democracy in the heart of the middle east” is a dire offense to a Turk. This nation IS free. IS liberal. IS a European nation. That’s why only 10% of Turks like America. (http://www.pewglobal.org/database/?indicator=1) ANOTHER war? Obama is for it. Gingrich is for it. Romney is for it.

There is one man who has a shot in hell of winning the presidency who says that foreign nations need to take care of themselves. That it isn’t our responsibility to intervene across the world. You know who it is. This attitude is racist? Bigoted? Anti-Semitic? This is the attitude of Thomas Jefferson. I almost feel sick knowing that anyone besides Ron Paul will surely initiate war with Iran. THAT is what most people mean when they say neocon. War. Neocon = war. THAT is why, of all the candidates, direct military contributions to Ron Paul top the list (http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=3601542&page=1 —accurate as of 07-2011)

Sea-skimming hypersonic guided missiles, anti-spy satellite lasers, drone hacking and other asymmetric tactics – it’s a nightmare. This is Russian tech. THIS IS NOT IRAQ. Please, Lord, protect this nation from the warmongers.

We can somehow sleep peaceably with Pakistan having nuclear tech but Iranian nukes are somehow a dire threat to the US. But… they aren’t. That’s why we have ABM. That’s why they shoot radiation at me and store a picture of my naked body every time a board a plane.

Iran is a dire threat to one nation of earth. That nation is not the US. And yet, I am anti-Semitic for not wanting to risk so much for them.

I imagine there’s a good bit of old video out there from RP’s earlier campaigns. I found the link to a 1988 debate from a comment thread at Tammy Bruce’s site. I’m sure this would raise eyebrows with voters, glad he’s toned it down some since then